Outgoing City Councilmember TJ Johnson speaks truth from power: Taking on OPD, the Olympian, and more

author : Janet Blanding | T. J. Johnson topic : T. J. Johnson | Olympia City Council | Police Misconduct | Port Militarization Resistance | Port of Olympia

TJ Johnson interviewed by Janet Blanding

TJ Johnson leaves the Olympia City Council at the end of 2007 after having served a four year term. He is also a founding member of Olympia Port Militarization Resistance. Shortly after the protests at the Port of Olympia in November 2007, he was interviewed by Janet Blanding.

Janet Blanding: When the news hit that a military shipment would be coming through Olympia again, the rumor was that Thurston County Sheriffs would be providing security for the Port. Why was it that OPD (Olympia Police Department) ended up filling that role?

TJ Johnson: The sheriff didn’t provide security because the port wouldn’t sign a contract, and what the county had asked was for the port to pay all the costs and assume all liability. But the default police department for city streets is OPD. In the same way that they would clear the streets for a parade in the city of Olympia, security for the shipments came to them.

JB: I was initially very surprised that OPD used violent means, rather than arrest, to control protesters. Why do you suppose they chose that course in the beginning, and did it surprise you?

TJ: Yes, I was quite surprised. Over the last year, I have been a defender of OPD within the PMR (Port Militarization Resistance) group, and I have essentially said I think Olympia cops are the best ones to deal with in these situations. Not everyone in PMR believed me, but I kept trying to make that argument. Well, they were right; I was wrong. I was surprised by OPD’s brutality. I think we all expected them to handle this the way they did in 2006, when they did their job; they arrested people blocking streets, but they did it nonviolently. This time, it seemed as if the intention was to do harm.

JB: Do you suspect that there was a financial motive for not arresting people?

I think that’s possible. I think that arrests clearly cost more, or they think they cost more, because it ties up the legal system. The way that they just hurt people, then physically threw them in a ditch on Saturday morning, was very surprising. They didn’t even make an attempt to arrest people. They just hurt them and removed them.

JB: Thanks for organizing the forum at City Hall [On Sunday, Nov. 11, Johnson held a community forum at City Hall to address the violent police response to the nonviolent demonstrations]. What was your intention with creating that opportunity for victims of excessive force, and what do you think the effect will be?

There were three intentions to the forum. First was to help people deal with their trauma. The first step in overcoming trauma is acknowledging it. The forum was an opportunity for people to share their stories and process. Second thing, it was an opportunity to document what happened so that people have that available for filing grievances and potential lawsuits. That’s why I arranged for three separate videographers to be there, so I knew we would get everything videotaped. And we did. We got it all on tape. I wanted to explain to people what the process was for filing complaints. So that’s why I came with a box of forms. I handed the forms out and encouraged people to file complaints about what they had observed and what had happened to them. The third intention was to build solidarity among people who had been victimized.

JB: What will come of this? I know a lot of complaints are being filed. We have everything documented on film, so that people who wish to use that as part of their complaint or legal process, that’s available to them. I guess the other thing is that I wanted people to understand that at least one person on the city council was willing to listen to them, and shared their concerns at the police behavior.

JB: During the forum, did any particular stories or incidents stand out?

First off, what most stood out was the consistency of what people reported. For three and a half hours, we heard the same thing over and over about the police behavior that people either experienced or observed. What was most troubling to me were the allegations of the police using force against people who were already restrained, and of the police using hate speech against people, particularly gays and lesbians. More than one person said they believed they were deliberately targeted because of their sexual orientation.

JB: Was the hate speech directed just at gays and lesbians, or were other groups targeted?

That was what most stood out to me. I was shocked to hear Olympia police officers degrading our citizens based on their sexual orientation.

JB: What do you think of the Olympian’s coverage of the port protests, particularly with respect to the excessive use of force by OPD?

I think it’s been terrible. I think they have presented very one-sided information and I’m especially appalled at the way they have not stood up for their own staff members who were abused by the police. I think if I was a staff person at the Olympian, I would feel really really low, and not very confident about the integrity of my employer at this point. The column by Vicki Kilgore basically said, “These things didn’t happen.” Well, I saw them happen. Many other people saw them happen.

JB: Rumors are circulating that one of the Olympian’s staffers told different stories on different days about being clubbed with a night stick. Why do you suppose his story changed?

I can only speculate that he talked to his boss. I do know that Tony Overman was sprayed repeatedly by the police, even as he identified himself to them. He was saying “Hey, I’m with the Olympian, I’m with the press.” It was members of PMR that treated him for his injuries. Wes Hamilton was one of the people who used Maalox and water and helped Tony get through it [note: Maalox mixed with water is used to help flush the pepper spray out of eyes]. Of course none of that was mentioned by the Olympian, because none of that would serve their agenda of making this very black and white: good cop, bad protesters.

JB: What do you think about the story that Tony Overman, photographer for the Olympian, was surrounded by a threatening mob of protesters in black masks who grabbed at his equipment?

That did happen. So the Olympian reported on that accurately. What they didn’t report on was that I and others intervened to try to help Tony, and again, they would never say that I did anything to help him, because that’s not part of their agenda to demonize me as an individual.

JB: That brings me to my next question: I just cringe when I read the things the Olympian publishes about you. Personally, I am really grateful that I live in a city where we have a council member like you, and I really appreciate the energy and commitment you bring to your job as a citizen, not only of Olympia, but of the global community. Our local paper seems to do an excellent job of finding your detractors, and publishing their negative tirades. Why do you suppose the Olympian promotes TJ-bashing?

TJ: I have a couple of ideas on that. One is that it’s just the petty vindictive nature of [editorial page editor] Mike Oakland and [executive editor] Vickie Kilgore. And the second is that they endorsed me when I last ran for the council, and I had a very good relationship with them for a couple of months until I did the first thing they didn’t like. I think they got some buyers’ remorse. I think they had helped elect a person who they thought would run their agenda, and when it became clear that I wouldn’t be running their agenda exclusively, they had buyers’ remorse. I think they thought, hey, we helped get this guy elected, and now he’s not doing what we want.

JB: The online comments section of the Olympian has been really divisive as far as the protests are concerned. Some people have posted some really vicious things. I have a hard time understanding why the Olympian tolerates such things. As far as you know, does the Olympian’s comment section benefit the newspaper financially in any way?

TJ: I don’t know about that. You used the term vicious—I would use the term illegal and threatening. I have read things in there—I don’t read it very often—but I have read direct threats to individuals posted on their website sometimes. I think their legal people should be concerned about a forum that allows people to post death threats. Why they tolerate it I don’t know.

JB: Clearly the Olympian’s coverage attempts to polarize the community and prejudice opinion against PMR and in favor of the cops. Any thoughts as to why the Olympian takes such a black and white approach to these issues?

TJ: This is just my speculation, but I think there are three reasons. First, I think, it’s the personality of the editor, Vickie Kilgore. Number two are the unspoken protocols of working for a multinational corporation. The third is fear of a backlash from their advertisers. Particularly the big advertisers like the car dealers. So much of their advertising is of the “wave the flag, red white and blue, buy a car to show your patriotism” type, I think that has an influence on the Olympian.

JB: Three questions about the future: First, what do you foresee for the Port of Olympia?

TJ: None of the commissioners have indicated that they’re rethinking military shipments. So what I see is a port commission that wants to continue to divide the community, and if they bring military shipments in, I foresee more confrontation.

JB: What do you foresee for the OPD’s relationship to protest and civil disobedience?

TJ: It’s going to be very hard to repair any trust that existed. This is going to be dragged out through the accountability process, and it’s going to be dragged out through the legal process for a long time. I hope that one of the things that emerges from this is the recognition that we need citizen oversight of the police department.

JB: And what do you foresee for Olympia Port Militarization Resistance?

TJ: It’s going to continue. As long as our port and ports in our region are being used to export and import violence, we’re going to be there to shut the revolving door of death.

JB: Are there are questions I missed? Is there anything you’d like to answer that I haven’t asked?

TJ: Yes, a very important question. And it’s this: Who at the city is accountable for what happened?

Right now, I am frustrated, because as a council member I don’t have the answer. Is it the city manager? Is it the police chief? Were individual officers acting in accordance with some plan that had been developed, or were individual officers operating as free agents? The bottom line is, who owns this? I am frustrated, and at least a couple other council members are frustrated because we aren’t getting answers. We’re asking the questions, we’ve been asking these questions for over a week, and we’re not getting answers. We deserve the answers, and the community deserves the answers.

Janet Blanding is a frequent contributor to Works In Progress.